RT’S PANORAMIC VIDEOS FROM SPACE WILL BE USED IN PREPARING RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS FOR MOON MISSION #

Moscow, October 4, 2017—RT’s series of panoramic videos filmed for the Space 360 project will be part of the training for Russian cosmonauts, including for future missions to the moon. Head of Energia Rocket and Space Corporation’s flight-test division Mark Serov made the announcement during the SPACEWALK 360 event – RT’s special presentation of the world’s first ever 360-degree footage of a spacewalk, filmed in collaboration with Roscosmos State Corporation and RSC Energia.

“We will be using this technology to train ISS [International Space Station] teams and also crews for future moon missions. Our colleagues can use 360 videos to conduct tests. It is one thing to show photos or videos shot in the traditional format, but with panoramic videos, you can take the experience to the next level of immersion. It is especially valuable for cosmonauts preparing to work in space,” Mark Serov said during the SPACEWALK 360 presentation at the Russian Museum of Cosmonautics.

“RT’s footage is very good. We need to have more of these videos, because we need to get as much information as we can. Right now, it is just a drop in the ocean; we need to film more,” Serov concluded.

The RT SPACEWALK 360 presentation took place at the Museum of Cosmonautics on October 3, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite Sputnik 1. During a video conference with the ISS, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazansky shared his experience with the filming process, “I think that 360 videos are a great technology, a wonderful idea. It is exciting that we, Russians, were the first ones to test it during a spacewalk.”

Roscosmos Executive Director of Piloted Spaceflights and “Hero of the Soviet Union”, Sergei Krikalev, as well as pilot-cosmonaut and narrator of the Space 360 project, “Hero of Russia” Andrei Borisenko, also spoke at the presentation.

Back In November 2016, RT became the first media outlet in history to “send” viewers to space, providing unparalleled panoramic images of Earth as seen from aboard the ISS with Mashable commenting that the video “gets you as close as possible to the experience of actually being aboard the ISS and looking down on our home planet.” The video received enthusiasm and praise not just from internet users, but also from former NASA astronauts and well-known public figures. Former astronauts Terry Virts and Clayton Anderson said the RT360 video was “one of the very best”, and American director Oliver Stone compared it to a videogame. Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, posted the video on her Twitter and Facebook, writing, “Very cool. First panoramic view of Earth can be seen from this 360-degree video shot aboard the International Space Station."

In 2015, RT became one of the first international media outlets to start producing news content in the immersive 360-degree format and now boasts one of the largest original 360 content libraries with more than 130 videos. RT’s 360 content is available on Facebook, YouTube and the RT360 mobile app (download at Google Play, App Store and Oculus Store).